Creating and maintaining a safety committee

Creating and maintaining a safety committee

Describe one of the safety committees your organization uses and how it reduces risk within your organization. Who are the general members of the group, how often do they meet, and is there a regulatory requirement that they report or publish notes? Is this a good use of the staff’s time or would another method that still addresses the safety goal of this group be more efficient?

Safety committees can serve a variety of functions, depending on the facility’s safety culture and the amount of time that management allows committee members to dedicate. The main purpose of safety committees is to help reduce the risk of workplace injuries and illnesses and ensure compliance with federal and state health and safety regulations.

Typical responsibilities of workplace-safety committees include:

• Being a liaison group between employees and management
• Developing safe work practices.
• Crafting written safety programs.
• Leading safety training.
• Conducting workplace inspections and safety audits.
• Reviewing incidents, near misses, accident investigation reports, claim summaries and loss analyses to prevent recurrences of similar incidents.
• Establishing dispute resolution procedures.
• Proposing and creating safety checklists.
• Promoting employees’ interests in health and safety issues.
• Providing a forum in which workers and management can discuss health and safety issues and collaborate on solutions.

Safety committees should be composed of a mixed population of employees and managers, with representatives from both workers and administration. Safety committees meet regularly, but not less than quarterly.

There are a lot of benefits of establishing a safety committee. From a financial standpoint, most insurance companies offer incentives or discounts to facilities that establish and maintain safety committees. Some health care organizations even offer complimentary training for committee members. Safety committee members are also on-the-job safety advocates. Because of their training, they are additional eyes and ears in their departments and can help identify potential problems and bring them to the attention of the safety manager for correction before incidents occur. When there is an incident, safety committee members have the knowledge to complete incident reports, conduct interviews and look for the true cause of the incident. These skills also help them make recommendations to prevent future incidents.

Creating and maintaining a safety committee will take time and resources. But the investment is worth it when compared to the cost of an employee injury, illness or death.

 

Using 200-300 words APA format with at least two references. Sources must be published within the last 5 years. There should be a mix between research and your reflections. Add critical thinking in the posts along with research. Apply the material in a substantial way.